Spa etiquette is a tricky business. A full-body massage is a
delight, of course. Yet it is natural to feel uneasy about exposing
your hidden bits to a stranger - especially one who's about to
smother you in oil and rub it all over.

With the rising popularity of spa treatments, that eternal
question - what to wear? - is whispered anxiously at resorts around
the world.

The International Spa Association's response is: "Spas will
never compromise your modesty. Most often, you will be given a robe
to change into before your treatment. Under the robe? It's up to
you."

This is no help at all. What is etiquette for, if not to
establish certain rules for social situations?

At the Peninsula Hot Springs on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula,
my therapist, Jane, puts me at ease. "It really is up to you," she
says. The spa provides disposable G-strings (boxers for men) that
help establish boundaries. They can, however, get in the way of
sweeping massage strokes. After soaking in a herbal bath for half
an hour, I opt for the (very barely) modest G-string.

The search for an aqua elixir is millenniums old. Cleopatra is
said to have established one of the world's first spas on the
shores of the Dead Sea in Egypt in about 25 BC. In Roman times,
legionnaires would soak their battered bodies in hot springs with
curative powers. In the 18th century, "taking the waters" in spa
towns such as Bath in England became a popular pastime among the
idle rich. Now, day spas have become the latest trend to soothe the
stresses of modern life. Fair enough, the Romans just had war - we
have desk jobs.

In 1992, Charles Davidson, founder of the Peninsula Hot Springs,
was inspired by the pleasures of bathing in Japan - where 17,000
commercial hot springs account for a billion-dollar industry - and
determined to open something similar in Australia.

The result was Victoria's first spa with natural hot springs,
open since June and about an hour's drive from Melbourne. The
complex was designed by last year's Royal Australian Institute of
Architects gold medal winner, Gregory Burgess. It has four outdoor
hot pools, a cold plunge pool and an indoor pool with a view of a
lake. Inside are steam, massage and relaxation rooms and a cafe
selling nutrient-packed juices.

Here for the afternoon, I am ready to be pampered to within an
inch of my life - but confronted by an exquisite dilemma. Do I
choose the kodo rocks, a massage with ancient stones and aromatic
oils; restore my skin with a herbal mask of lilly pilly, desert
limes and wattle seed; or have my body wrapped in a mud cocoon
while enjoying a scalp massage?

After an oddly formal welcome ceremony in the Spa Dreaming
Centre (what's the etiquette on turning indigenous traditions into
tourist fodder?), I move into the steam room. Jane gives me a
full-body salt exfoliation - a heavenly scrub that makes my skin
tingle - while my investigation of spa dos and don'ts continues.
Should you chat to your masseur, like your hairdresser? "Again,"
she says, "it's up to you." Silence often accompanies extreme
relaxation, but some people do feel the need to unburden mind as
well as body.

Other tips include: switch off your mobile phone - its nagging
ring may be why you're uptight in the first place. Wash your feet.
If your toes are particularly whiffy or warty, the masseur may have
to use gloves. Shower first - clean skin will absorb products well.
Take your jewellery off. Do not snore. Yes, it's relaxing, but you
shouldn't actually go to sleep. And do not groan loudly for an
hour. This is just embarrassing for everyone.

After an hour and a half of sublime pampering, including a
massage and hair treatment, I take a dip in the thermal pools. The
water is 38 degrees, so even outdoors in the rain, it's a pleasant
- and possibly healthy - experience. Natural mineral water is
sourced from a cold spring water aquifer 10 metres underground,
while the hot water is pumped up from 637 metres. This geothermally
hot water explains the rather unlikely whiff of sulphur (this is
Victoria, not volcanic Central America) that welcomes visitors to
the springs.

Which raises one last point of spa etiquette: what is one
supposed to say about the smell?

The writer travelled courtesy of Tourism Victoria, phone 132
842 or see visitvictoria.com.

* History: Good views are guaranteed if you climb to the top of
the 21-metre Cape Schank Lighthouse, built in 1859. Phone (03) 5988
6184. History buffs will also want to visit Point Nepean National
Park (information on 131 963) to explore the ruins, tunnels and gun
installations at an old military fort dating from the 1880s.

* Culture: The Contemporary Sculpture Survey and Award is on at
McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park until June 25. 390 McClelland
Drive, Langwarrin.